The last 12 months at Faisal Jassim Trading Company (FJ) have all been about new horizons – and the man pioneering this vision at the Dubai-based electro-mechanical supplier is Raphael Khlat. Keeping with the tradition of diversifying the business towards manufacturing, which Khlat was central to developing at the company, FJ opened its eighth factory this year.
The insulation manufacturing facility in India adds to its established operations which produce switchgear, grills, diffusers, sound attenuators, packaged pumps, and ducts – among other things. FJ is also in the process of setting up another production facility in Qatar which Khlat says will be operational by November this year. This expansion in its production capacity means that 60-70% of the company’s product range will be self-manufactured.
With a turnover of approximately (AED 500m) $136.1m and a permanent staff of 850, Khlat is confident that the company’s resources can also help it to establish a greater presence in the rest of the GCC beyond its UAE base.
“I am very hopeful of the company becoming an important player in Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the coming years,” says Khlat. “We can use our edge that we have built in the UAE in other places, in particular Saudi Arabia. We are taking those steps to venture out, go out of our comfort zone and get used to a new way of doing business in new territories.”
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